Buffalo’s defensive coordinator, who didn’t seem to be on Cleveland’s radar when the team began a coaching search last month, signed a five-year contract and was named the Browns’ seventh full-time coach since 1999. Pettine replaces Rob Chudzinski, fired on Dec. 29 after just one season.

The Browns interviewed 10 candidates before deciding on the 47-year-old Pettine, who has built a solid reputation with a no-nonsense approach with his players.

“I have been nicknamed BFT — Blunt Force Trauma,” he said. “The days are too short to dance around subjects sometimes, and I think guys appreciate that.”

His straightforward style attracted Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, who set out to find a “strong winner” and feels the Pettine can lead Cleveland’s resurgence.

Pettine spent one year with the Bills after four as Rex Ryan’s defensive coordinator with the New York Jets. Before that, Pettine was an assistant coach in Baltimore, giving him some familiarity with Cleveland’s division.

Pettine understands there are challenges in turning around the Browns, who have lost at least 11 games in each of the past six seasons and made the playoffs once in their expansion era. Pettine believes the Browns have talent — they have six Pro Bowlers — and wants to be the one to return them to glory.

“There’s only 32 of these jobs, and they don’t come along often,” Pettine said. “People ask me, ‘Why didn’t you wait? There will be chances next year.’ I don’t know if I believe in that. When you put all the factors together, this franchise is in position, given the right leadership, to win.”

Notes

• Eric Rivera, 23, the man who prosecutors say fired the shot that killed Washington Redskins star Sean Taylor during a botched 2007 burglary, was sentenced in Miami to more than 57 years in state prison.

• The mother of a Dallas Cowboys practice squad player who was killed in a December 2012 car crash said she doesn’t hold a grudge against the man who was drunk behind the wheel that night, her son’s close friend and teammate Josh Brent. Stacey Jackson wasn’t asked and didn’t say whether she thinks Brent should go to prison for the December 2012 crash that killed her son, Jerry Brown, who was a passenger in Brent’s car.

• For the third straight offseason, Adrian Peterson will be recovering from surgery. The Minnesota Vikings said their star running back had an operation to repair his adductor muscle, which is part of the groin. The team said Peterson was expected to be fully recovered in about six weeks.

• The Dallas Cowboys signed kicker Dan Bailey to a $22.5 million, seven-year contract through the 2020 season. The restricted free agent from Oklahoma State gets a $4 million signing bonus and $7.5 million guaranteed.

• The NFL’s officiating chief has cleared Broncos receiver Wes Welker of any wrongdoing for his hit that knocked Patriots cornerback Aqib Talib out of the AFC Championship Game. “It was a legal hit,” vice president of officiating Dean Blandino said on the NFL Network.

• NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the league would be open to allowing players to use medical marijuana if experts could show that it helped treat concussions. “Our medical experts are not saying that right now,” he said.